Hampshire · London and the South East
Pre-Purchase Roof Survey in Whiteley
Find out the condition of the roof at your property in Whiteley from an independent roof surveyor. Visits run on weekdays and weekends, in the daytime.
- Chimney mortar that has eroded
- Signs of past leaks inside the loft
- Standing water on a flat extension roof
Pre-purchase roof surveys for homes and businesses in Whiteley
With a written roof report, you can go back to the seller or agent with specifics. You might ask about past repairs, ask for work to be done before completion or think again about your offer. What the seller agrees to is up to them, but you will be negotiating from a clear picture rather than a hunch. It also helps you decide whether to go ahead at all. We survey natural slate, clay and concrete tiles and flat-roofed extensions and dormers, and the problems we’re asked to look at most are damp timbers or stains in the loft and blocked or leaking gutters.
In a smaller place like Whiteley, some houses face open ground, so their roofs may take more wind and driving rain. Loose ridge tiles, lifted coverings and tired flashings are the kind of things that show it. Whether you are buying or signing off new work, those edges deserve a close look. On an exposed roof, a loose ridge or verge soon becomes a bigger job.
What you get is a clear record of the roof on the day we saw it. It’s useful right away, and a good reference for later, such as when you want to compare after future work.
- Place
- Whiteley (PO15)
- Region
- Hampshire
- Prices
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Your report
- A written report with photos, by email
- Appointments
- Monday to Sunday, daytime
- Insured
- PI and public liability insurance
- Call
- 07833 053749
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
How it works
The visit usually starts outside and finishes in the loft: first the slopes, edges and gutters from every safe viewpoint, then the loft space where it can be reached. In total, it takes roughly 1–2 hours at the house you’re buying, depending on its size and how much of the roof can be seen. Homes around Whiteley often have gardens on more than one side, which gives us room to step back and see the roof. Let us know if any side is fenced off or hard to reach. The loft, where there’s safe access, completes the picture.
- We help you pick the package that suits the property.
- We agree a visit, including weekends if that helps.
- We inspect and photograph every part of the roof we can safely see.
- Moisture detection, structural checks, thermal imaging or a drone are added where your package includes them.
- You receive the report, with findings prioritised by urgency, so you can raise them with the seller.
Before we arrive
- Let us know where we can park nearby
- Have any questions written down, so nothing gets missed
- If you’re buying, check with the agent that we can get in
Book a survey
Prices start from £150, including VAT. The exact figure depends on the roof and the package, so call 07833 053749 or email us with the details.
Advice
Also near Whiteley
What else we do in Whiteley
What we look for on each type of roof
Chimney stacks
We inspect the outside of the stack, and it is not a flue or gas safety check. If a flue needs testing, we’ll suggest who to ask.
Lead flashings and valleys
Flashings are a common source of leaks, so we look at each one closely. Any that need attention are photographed and explained.
Practical tips
These tips come from what we see on roofs every week, before and after a survey:
- Ask whether there are papers for past roof work
- Ask the seller about past roof repairs
- Notice patches of new decoration in top-floor rooms
- Pass the findings to your conveyancer
It is worth sharing the report with your solicitor so questions can go to the seller’s solicitor. It can prompt questions about past roof work and any paperwork for it, especially where we’ve found patch repairs.
Keep the loft ventilated. Condensation in a roof space can look like a leak and can damage timbers over time. Avoid packing insulation into the eaves so tightly that air cannot flow.
Common roof problems in Whiteley
Flat roofs turn up on extensions, dormers, porches and garages. Felt flat roofs often last around 15 to 20 years, and ponding, blisters and splits are common signs of age. A buyer can easily miss them, because many can only be seen from an upstairs window.
Here are some of the things we see often:
- Ponding, blisters or splits on a flat roof
- Loose pots and cracked flaunching
- Lead that has worked loose at a wall or chimney
- Gaps where slates or tiles have come loose
Landlords with a home close to Swanwick station may find that it’s worth knowing a roof’s condition before you buy it, or before you sign off new roofing work on it.
Questions to ask before booking
- Which viewpoints they use to see the roof
- Is VAT included in the price?
- How much experience they have with roofs like yours
- Whether the loft space is looked at, where there is one
Leave it or get it looked at?
A mortgage valuation isn’t a roof survey. Its job is to check the property’s value for the mortgage, and it will not look closely at the roof. A roof survey is carried out for the buyer, and the report is written for you to use. In an older home around Whiteley, water from a roof defect can get into timber and plaster, which is far harder to put right than the roof fault itself.
There are three survey packages: the Basic Survey from £150, the Standard Survey from £250 and the Premium Survey from £400, with VAT included. The price for your roof depends on its size, access and what you’d like to know.
What you get with us
- An independent look at the roof
- Visits on any day of the week
- Thermal imaging and drones used where they help
- PI and public liability insurance
Take a look at what a roof survey costs or our case studies.
Can I check my roof myself?
Your own check is a good start, but it isn’t a survey. From ground level, valleys, flashings and the backs of chimneys are often out of sight, and those are details a survey looks at closely.
The one thing to avoid is getting up close. Slates, tiles, flat roofs and rooflights can give way. That’s where a survey comes in, using safe viewpoints and a drone where it applies.
Common questions in Whiteley
Is Whiteley within the area you cover?
Yes, we do. We work right across London and South East England, and smaller places are part of that. Longer journeys are simply planned in advance.
Is my home in Whiteley listed or in a conservation area?
Check Historic England’s online list first, then ask the council about conservation areas and any Article 4 direction. The answer matters most when a change of material is on the cards.
How experienced are you?
Over 20 years and more than 5,000 surveys, across London and South East England.
Does someone need to be in?
If the survey includes the loft or the inside of the building, someone needs to let us in. Access is agreed with you as you book.
Is this the same as a RICS Level 2 or Level 3 survey?
No. We survey the roof, not the whole building, and it isn’t a RICS home survey. It complements one rather than replacing it.
What insurance do you have?
Every survey is covered by professional indemnity and public liability insurance, and details are available on request.
Do you need to go inside the property?
If it can be arranged, yes. Inside, the loft shows leaks, damp timbers and the underlay. If access is not possible, we note it in the report.
Pre-purchase roof surveys around Whiteley
Whiteley is within about 4 miles of the coast, where sea air brings more salt and stronger wind than inland. Salt corrodes metal fixings and flashings, and wind lifts loose slates, tiles and ridge pieces. Where the drone is part of the survey, the flight is checked against the Drone Safety Map first.
If you live in an older home near St Margaret Mary, a survey will show how the roof has been repaired before, which helps you judge what’s coming.
Whiteley is about 3 miles south-east of Hedge End, in Hampshire. From houses to flats and shops in Whiteley, we can survey the roof on a weekday or at the weekend. We cover towns and villages across Hampshire, from the larger towns to small villages. You can also see our page for Southampton.
Surveys in PO15 work the same way as everywhere else we cover. If you need a pre-purchase roof survey at a property on Oak Coppice Road, Thyme Avenue and Christie Avenue or anywhere close by, we can survey it. We also cover the places around Whiteley: Burridge (1 mile north-west), Park Gate (1 mile south-west), Segensworth (1 mile south), Sarisbury (1 mile south-west) and Swanwick (1 mile west). Larger places within reach include Winchester (12 miles north), Gosport (7 miles south-east), Havant (12 miles east), Eastleigh (7 miles north-west), Fareham (3 miles south-east) and Horndean (11 miles east).
What’s near Whiteley
Locally, jobs take us to homes and businesses close to Brookfield Community School and Language College and the streets around them. Whiteley’s nearest station is Swanwick station, about 0.8 miles south-west of the centre. Other landmarks nearby include St Andrew's Castle (3.5 miles south-west) and Fareham Community Hospital (1.4 miles south-west). The countryside around Whiteley includes Swanwick Lakes.